Herbivore spearmen production molds

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Last weekend I had the opportunity to make a production mold with my new friend Andy from Dark Platypus Studios (www.dark-platypus.com.) Andy has a great moldmaking tutorial on his website. The production mold is made from organic rubber discs. Trenches are cut in the rubber for metal master castings and the mold halves are placed together into a vulcanizer. The mold is heated to over 300 degrees and 3,000 pounds of pressure are applied for 90 minutes. The organic rubber liquefies and flows into the crevasses, picking up every detail. Once the mold has cooled, vents and pouring gates are cut into the rubber. The mold is loaded into the spin caster and molten pewter is poured into the mold as it is spun. After a few minutes, the mold halves are separated and the metal castings are removed. Since the mold has 10 cavities, we had over 50 figures in less than 15 minutes. Andy is a great teacher and it was cool to participate in the moldmaking and casting process. Thanks a lot for the great learning experience, Andy.
Here are some photos:

Both halves of the production mold

Mold half–notice the pouring gates and air vents

Finshed castings of the herbivore spearmen.

Here are some painted versions of the herbivore spearman for my upcoming prehistoric-fantasy game “Primal Instinct.” The carnivorous saurian race called the Rog use the herbivore slave soldiers as expendable troops. They are herded out by cruel herd masters en mass with their spears to meet almost certain death. When the herbivores are not being used in combat, they are fattened-up for use as food by the carnivorous Rog tribesmen. Just consider them “battle cattle.”